If you were a kid in the nineties then chances are you probably loved Hook. It's hardly Spielberg's best, but with an energetic and fun loving performance from the late great Robin Williams, the film stands as a fond memory for many people now finding themselves entering boring old adulthood. This seems to be especially true if you were lucky enough to be a Lost Boy. 25 years after the movie released, some of the former Lost Boys - now finding themselves well into adulthood - recently looked back at their time on set and remember how awesome Robin Williams was to them.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Hook was about Peter Banning (Williams), a man who grew up and forgot all about being Peter Pan and his adventures in Neverland. It's only when Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) kidnaps his two children that Peter must return to Neverland and remember who he is to save them. Helping him along the way were his Lost Boys, consisting of notable members such as leader Rufio (Dante Basco), the rotund Thud Butt (Raushan Hammond) and the youngest Lost Boy, Too Small (Thomas Tulak). Uproxx managed to catch up with these actors to reminisce about Hook, and they had plenty of nice things to say about Robin Williams. Here's a touching story shared by Hammond - who has since gone on to become a magician and actor - about how Williams would stick up for him set and how, despite being a fun loving guy, he was able to get serious when it counted.
There were a couple of times on the set of the movie where some kids would literally try to rough me up on the set. And Robin Williams would see this going on in-between shots and he would come over, like he was my dad, and he would turn the other kids straight. Like, 'What are you doing? We're on a set, this is a major film. Why would you act like this?' It was really surprising because we always saw Robin Williams always joking, always laughing, always doing the craziest things. And when he would do that all the kids would stop because they were so shocked that the 10-year-old child in him would stop for a minute or two.
As if we needed any more reasons to adore Robin Williams. Even though he might be remembered best for his sillier roles as the Genie in Aladdin or Mrs. Doubtfire, Williams did have a flair for drama too (Dead Poets Society anyone?). It seems like Williams was able to form some deep bonds with the kids he worked with. Thomas Tulak remembers one instance where he went off script because he didn't want to step away from the actor's side.
There's a scene where he's not Peter Pan yet. He's still Banning and Rufio draws a line in the dirt with his sword and the Lost Boys are going back and forth while he and Tinkerbell are arguing, "But he's this and he's that," and the Lost Boys are running back and forth. Rufio says, "You're going to follow this loser?" And all the Lost Boys cross the line. And I didn't cross the line. I stayed next to my friend Robin because I felt like if I crossed the line I would be betraying my friend. And I even held his hand because I was like, I got you Peter.
The Uproxx article is full of interesting stories like that, so if you're a Hook fan then I recommend giving it a read. Or maybe just go pop in the old Hook DVD and see if it still holds up for you 25 years later.
